Kinetic-scale Current Sheets in Near-Sun Solar Wind: Properties, Scale-dependent Features and Reconnection Onset

A. B. Lotekar; I. Y. Vasko; T. Phan; S. D. Bale; T. A. Bowen; J. Halekas; A. Artemyev; Yu Khotyaintsev; F. S. Mozer

doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ac5bd9

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Kinetic-scale Current Sheets in Near-Sun Solar Wind: Properties, Scale-dependent Features and Reconnection Onset

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Kinetic-scale Current Sheets in Near-Sun Solar Wind: Properties, Scale-dependent Features and Reconnection Onset

A. B. Lotekar, I. Y. Vasko, T. Phan, S. D. Bale, T. A. Bowen, J. Halekas, A. Artemyev, Yu Khotyaintsev and F. S. Mozer

The Astrophysical journal, Vol.929(1), p.58

04/01/2022

DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/ac5bd9

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Abstract

We present statistical analysis of 11,200 proton kinetic-scale current sheets (CS) observed by the Parker Solar Probe during 10 days around the first perihelion. The CS thickness lambda is in the range from a few to 200 km with the typical value around 30 km, while current densities are in the range from 0.1 to 10 mu A m(-2) with the typical value around 0.7 mu A m(-2). These CSs are resolved thanks to magnetic field measurements at 73-290 samples s(-1) resolution. In terms of proton inertial length lambda(p), the CS thickness lambda is in the range from about 0.1 to 10 lambda(p) with the typical value around 2 lambda(p). The magnetic field magnitude does not substantially vary across the CSs, and accordingly the current density is dominated by the magnetic-field-aligned component. The CSs are typically asymmetric with statistically different magnetic field magnitudes at the CS boundaries. The current density is larger for smaller-scale CSs, J(0) approximate to 0.15 x (lambda/100 km)(-0.76) mu A m(-2), but does not statistically exceed the Alfven current density J(A) corresponding to the ion-electron drift of the local Alfven speed. The CSs exhibit remarkable scale-dependent current density and magnetic shear angles, J(0)/J(A) approximate to 0.17 x (lambda/lambda(p))(-0.67) and Delta theta approximate to 21 degrees x (lambda/lambda(p))(0.32). Based on these observations and comparison to recent studies at 1 au, we conclude that proton kinetic-scale CSs in the near-Sun solar wind are produced by turbulence cascade, and they are automatically in the parameter range, where reconnection is not suppressed by the diamagnetic mechanism, due to their geometry dictated by turbulence cascade.

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Title: Subtitle: Kinetic-scale Current Sheets in Near-Sun Solar Wind: Properties, Scale-dependent Features and Reconnection Onset
Creators: A. B. Lotekar - Swedish Institute of Space Physics
I. Y. Vasko - University of California, Berkeley
T. Phan - University of California, Berkeley
S. D. Bale - University of California, Berkeley
T. A. Bowen - Univ Calif Berkeley, Space Sci Lab, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
J. Halekas - University of Iowa
A. Artemyev - University of California, Los Angeles
Yu Khotyaintsev - Swedish Institute
F. S. Mozer - University of California, Berkeley
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: The Astrophysical journal, Vol.929(1), p.58
DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/ac5bd9
ISSN: 0004-637X
eISSN: 1538-4357
Publisher: IOP Publishing Ltd
Number of pages: 12
Grant note: 2112-00416 / Russian Science Foundation; Russian Science Foundation (RSF) 80NSSC20K1788 / NASA; National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) 206/19 / Swedish National Space Agency (SNSA) 80NSSC18K0646 / NASA Heliophysics Guest Investigator grant
Language: English
Date published: 04/01/2022
Academic Unit: Physics and Astronomy
Record Identifier: 9984428827702771

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